Lesson 9 (Feb 20-26, 2021), To Serve and to Save

 Servant Nation

1. Though any one can be God's Servant, who is specifically called to be God's Servant?
2. How well did Israel fulfill the task that God had assigned to the nation? What aspects of the task if any were accomplished? What aspects, if any, were not accomplished?
3. With so much evidence of God's help to Israel in the past why did so many kings not place their trust in him?

Unnamed Individual Servant

1. Why does God not identify his servant by name to make identification easier?
2. Is the term "servant" a positive term or a derogatory term In what ways was the Messiah God's Servant?
3. Is there a better term to describe the role of the Messiah in fulfilling God's task of saving humans?

Persian Messiah

1. How could Isaiah make a prediction of a Persian king by name two hundred years before he was born?
2. How much freedom of choice do we have if God knew everything we would be and do even before we were born?
3. Why do many people doubt that Isaiah could have made the prophecy so far ahead of time?

Hope in Advance

1. What would be the problem, if any, if there were really two Isaiah's like many people believe, one living an writing after the event?
2. Why would God promise comfort even before the distress came upon the nation of Israel?
3. Why is loyalty to one's nation so strong?

A Feeling and Suffering Servant

1. How successful was Jesus as God's servant? Was he a failure in any way because so many will not be saved?
2. How well is our church fulfilling the role of God's Servant?
3. What can local churches do to serve the community?

Lesson 8 (Feb 13-19, 2021), Comfort My People

Comfort for the Future

1. Does God himself punish his people or does he just withdraw his protection and allow Satan to afflict them?
2. Was Hezekiah really to blame for showing his wealth to his visitors? What was wrong about displaying God's blessings?
3. What could Hezekiah have shown his visitors that might have been better?

Presence, Word, and Roadwork

1. Why are roads repaired when a head of state visits?
2. How is the way actually to be prepared for the messiah? 
3. How successful was John the Baptist in preparing the world for Jesus?

The Birth of Evangelism

1. What do we mean by "shout it from the mountain tops?" Of what value is that?
2. What advantages might women have over men in the work of evangelism? 
3. Why were the majority of Adventist pioneer missionaries to India women?

 Merciful Creator

1. How is a display of the power of God a comfort to his people? Why weren't the Israelites at Sinai comforted by the display of God's power?
2. What did God accomplish by making Job feel so humble by showing his power in nature? 
3. What comfort is there in the fact that God is creator?

The Problem With Idolatry

1. Why do certain religions encourage images for worship?
2. Why did God prohibit Israel from making an image to represent him? 
3. What are the similarities in idolatry and adultery?
4. How easy or difficult is it to talk to someone you cannot see? 

Lesson 7 (Feb 6-12, 2021), Defeat of the Assyrians

 Strings Attached

1. How do bad kings like Ahaz have good sons like Hezekiah to succeed them?
2. Why do people prefer to trust human beings rather than God?
3. While trusting God how much human effort and planning should be done to counter threat?

Propaganda

1. What are the advantages of getting your enemy to surrender without a fight? What are the disadvantages, if any?
2. At what point does it become better to surrender to the enemy rather than fight and be destroyed?
3. How much can one trust the enemy to surrender, hoping to be spared?

Shaken, but Not Forsaken

1. How sure can one be that God has heard one's prayer and will answer it positively?
2. Why are some prophets like Isaiah believed and trusted by kings and others like Jeremiah doubted?
3. How concerned is God about his reputation?

The Rest of the Story

1. Why do kings and leaders not admit failures?
2. Can the account of the Bible which credits the death of 185,000 Assyrian soldiers to the Angel of the Lord, be harmonized with the historian Herodotus who blames the death on the bubonic plague?
3. Why does God rescue Jerusalem while allowing the others cities of Judah such as Lachish and Azekah to be defeated?

In Sickness and in Wealth

1. Was Hezekiah's illness a result of Satan's work? Why would Satan wish him to die?
2. Why did King Ahaz not want a sign from God, and why did Hezekiah ask for a sign?
3. How can the shadow on a sundial go backwards without throwing the solar system off course?